Ventilation of casks containing liquids



N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITNDGRAPHER WASHINGTON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS WILHELM, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

VENTILATION CASKS CONTAINING LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 28,799, dated June 19, 1860.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS VILHELM, of the city of Buffalo, county ofErie, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Ventilation of Beer-Barrels, Liquor-Casks, &c., OnTap for Daily Use; and I do hereby declare that the following is a fulland exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings and the letters. of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consist-s in the arrangement of a ventilatorin the top of the cask and the connection of the same by means of a cordor chain to the tap or faucet so that when the plug of the faucet isturned to allow the liquor to escape from the cask the ventilator willbe opened and admit air in at the top of the cask and when the plug isturned to stop the flow of the liquor the ventilator will close itselfby the action of a spring.

The gure is a side elevation of a cask standing upon its head withfaucet for drawing the liquor from the cask and a vertical section ofthe ventilator in the top .of the cask.

A represents the ventilator. It consists of a plug (b) passing into andthrough the upper head of the cask (M) which plug has an aperture (b)opening into the cask.

(c) is a met-al tube or case connected to the plug (b) at right anglesthereto and opening into the aperture (b) in the plug. It is madesmaller near its inner end so as to form a valve seat against which thevalve (f) presses and prevents the air from passing into the cask. Thisvalve is made of cork or other suitable material and is secured on theend of the valve rod A spring (e) coiled around the valve rod keeps thespring in close air tight contact with its seat. An opening (g) is madein the underside of the case (c) which when the valve f) is drawn backfrom its seat is opened thus forming a continuous air passage into thecask.

H represents an ordinary Wood faucet for drawing the liquor from thecask but my improvement is applicable to a metal faucet of ordinaryconstruction.

I- is a small cord or chain which connects with the valve rod (d) andpassing over the sheaves J and K connects with the plug or tap (L).

)When the plug or tap L is turned sufficiently to allow the liquor inthe cask to flow through the faucet it will by means of the cord I pullupon the valve rod in such a manner as to compress the spring (c) andmove the valve back from its seat and uncover the aperture (g) and allowthe air to pass into the cask. TWhen the plug (L) is turned back to stopthe flow of the liquor through the faucet the coil spring (e) reactingwill force the valve back to its position against its seat and therebyeectually exclude t-he air from the cask. Thus it will be seen that theventilator is opened by the faucet whenever liquor is drawn from thecask and closed by the action of the spring the moment the faucet isclosed. The cord may be lengthened or shortened as necessary so as toinsure the proper pull upon the valve rod at each turn of the plug (L)and adapted to all sizes of beer and liquor casks.

I do not claim broadly the idea of ventilating casks by the action ofthe faucet in drawing off liquor, neither do I claim any apparatus inwhich air is passed through the liquor faucet and thence conveyed to theupper part of the cask; but

That- I claim as new and of my invention herein as an improvement incask ventilators 1s- The combination of the plug Z) b valve f rod dspring c cord I and faucet I-I L the said parts being constructed andarranged and operating in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

LOUIS WILHELM.

Vitnesses:

YVALTER H. FORBUSH, E. B. FoRUsH.

